Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteSB75
I can't speak to supplements. However, as far as shoulder pain goes, I had a persistent issue with it for some time. I solved it by changing the way I bench, taking a closer grip. I take the bar with my pinkys at the notch, or even just inside it, bringing the angle of the shoulder below parallel and elbows slightly closer to my body. It does change the bar path a bit, it winds up hitting my chest just below my nipples, but after months of daily discomfort, that small adjustment has made a world of difference.
Anyway, been feeling like crap lately, so decided I needed a full week off. Back tomorrow morning.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icehog3
Some people swear by the Glucosamine/Chondroiton/MSM, Alex...I found that it helped a bit but took a long time to get enough in my system to make a difference.
Besides the creatine I find that the anti-inflammatory properties in Naproxen Sodium (Aleve) give me some relief.
Continuing with what Pete said, over the years I found that shortening up my range of motion on some chest and shoulder exercises heas been beneficial as well. I keep constant tension on the muscles being worked, but don't transfer as much stress to the tendons and ligaments of the shoulder joint. I have actually made better size gains as well since employing this method.
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Guys - Thanks for the helpful advice! My shoulder problems started about 2 years ago (probably due to excessive bench and shoulder pressing). I stopped shoulder pressing for a bit and went light on the bench, and things got better for a while. However, for the past half year or so I've been doing a lot of heavy doubles/triples in an effort to boost my bench. While my bench has definitely gone up, my left shoulder started acting up again. In the last month or so, I've been literally doing half as much weight as before but with a lot more volume (think 10 sets of 10 or 12, plus additional sets of cable crossovers, flys, etc.) to help myself recover. This combined with rotator cuff exercises at least every other day has improved things a bit. Though I still have some way to go. I agree with Tom that doing partials (not locking out is key!) are great for reducing shoulder stress and putting on mass (especially with a slow and steady eccentric phase). Likewise Pete is very much correct in utilizing a narrower grip which definitely reduces shoulder stress. Some folks also like to bench with dumbbells instead of barbells for reducing shoulder stress as it is evidently more biomechanically sound (greater range of motion as well, especially for incline).